More than 40,000 residents in parts of Southern California were ordered to evacuate on Friday after officials warned that a massive chemical storage tank at an aerospace manufacturing facility was at risk of either rupturing or exploding.
Emergency crews have been battling the crisis at GKN Aerospace, where authorities say a large storage tank containing volatile chemicals began releasing toxic fumes.
During an emergency press conference, Orange County fire officials described the situation as rapidly deteriorating and potentially catastrophic.
According to officials, crews discovered Thursday night that a 34,000-gallon tank containing methyl methacrylate — commonly known as MMA — was leaking at the facility.
MMA is a highly flammable industrial chemical commonly used in aerospace manufacturing and plastic epoxy production.
Firefighters initially believed they had stabilized the situation after implementing emergency cooling operations around the tank, allowing some residents to briefly return home.
But by Friday morning, officials said conditions had worsened significantly.
“We have determined that the tank that is in the biggest crisis is in fact unable to be secured and mitigated,” Orange County Fire Division Chief Craig Covey said during the briefing.
Covey warned that officials are now preparing for two worst-case scenarios.
“This is highly volatile, it’s highly toxic, it’s highly flammable,” he said.
“This is not precautionary. This is gonna happen unless some brilliant guy behind me here figures out how we can mitigate this incident.”
According to emergency officials, the tank could rupture and spill between 6,000 and 7,000 gallons of dangerous chemicals into surrounding areas.
Authorities also warned about the possibility of a “thermal runaway” event, where rapidly increasing temperatures inside the tank could trigger a major explosion, per the Conservative Brief.
Officials fear such an explosion could ignite nearby storage tanks containing fuel and other hazardous materials, potentially causing a chain-reaction disaster at the site.
“We are setting up these evacuations in preparation for these two options: It fails, or it blows up,” Covey stated.
Officials emphasized that while there is currently no active toxic plume spreading through the area, the danger remains serious enough to justify immediate evacuations.
Amir El-Farra announced an expanded evacuation zone Friday morning as authorities worked to clear residents from threatened areas near the facility.
“Community safety is our highest priority,” El-Farra said.
Emergency evacuation centers have reportedly been established in both Garden Grove and Cypress for displaced residents and families.
As of Friday afternoon, no injuries or fatalities had been reported.
Federal agencies are also now becoming involved in the emergency response.
Rep. Derek Tran (D-CA) said he is coordinating with both the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Environmental Protection Agency regarding possible federal assistance.
“I encourage everyone in the affected area to follow guidance from local authorities and avoid the impacted zones until further guidance is issued,” Tran said.
Officials have not provided a timeline for when the situation may stabilize, and emergency crews remain on scene continuously monitoring the increasingly unstable tank.
The unfolding crisis has now become one of the largest chemical emergency responses in Southern California in recent years, with authorities warning the threat remains active and unpredictable.
